Tag Archives: dominick mayer

Courtesy: AP News. From the documentary “Food, Inc.”, a food processing production line. Are Hollywood films becoming no different?

by Legendary Lew

Friend of The Underground Multiplex and contributor to Mediatrocities, Dominick Suzanne-Mayer comes up with an astute write-up of Warner Brothers’ decision to produce more DC Comics-based movies. His views parallel mine in discussion of what I’ve termed Imitation Movie Products.

You should head over to Consequence of Sound and give it a read. It’s yet another movie lover’s concern for how movies are being made and distributed to the detriment of those who can never have their films projected on the big screen.

Among the topics: What’s the deal with Saving Christmas, its unnecessary continued exposure for Kirk Cameron and the general inept storytelling of modern Christian-themed movies? Can Michael Bay get anything cinematic right? What was Lew’s choice of worst 2014 film. What’s the lasting effect of the Sony Hacks and is it affecting Hollywood and even Razzie voting?

There were more than 43 reasons to hate Worst Picture Razzie winner “Movie 43”

TUGM’s Tyler Pistorius and Lew Ojeda were guests on Heave Media’s annual report on The Razzies, hosted by Dominick Mayer. Head on over to Heave Media to listen to this scintillating discussion and don’t say we didn’t warn Hollywood about next year.

Johnny Depp (left) and Armie Hammer get sucked into the rot of Hollywood in “The Lone Ranger.”

by Legendary Lew

Robbie Collin of the UK’s The Telegraph just weighed in on The Razzies, the 30+ year institution that comes along every year around Oscar time to chuck produce at the worst Hollywood had to offer during the previous 12 months. I now look forward with great anticipation to watching and reviewing all of the movies nominated for the golden fruit. This usually requires a concentrated effort of peering into hours of hell for a couple of months, but I feel it’s well worth it for a sense of grounding. After watching a whopping 19 Razzie nominees in just over 30 days, I’m ready for my annual ranting Razzies podcast with my co-horts.

I agree with Collin over much of what he states in his post. There are some particularly sloppy choices for this year’s Razzies. Lindsay Lohan, IMHO, was chosen for three movies, simply because she’s Lohan. Playing herself in Scary

Tyler Perry, master scammer in “A Madea Christmas.”

Movie 5 and InAPPropriate Comedy was the best thing to happen to both those films and she was terrific in The Canyons. What should stun Razzie followers is that her co-stars in the latter film (Nolan Funk and Amanda Brooks) were not nominated as they were both horrendous. I can also nitpick about choosing Halle Berry for The Call, a movie for which she had to fall victim to a ludicrous script suggesting to future serial killers they should use Tracfones and not use OnStar.

I could go on about the other acting choices, most of which are good ones, but there’s a bigger point to be made and one which I part with Collin. It’s fascinating he writes the following:

“the Razzies’ ongoing failure to train its sights on anything but the most obvious targets means it grows more tired and redundant by the year.”

I could have written the very same thing but replaced ‘Razzies’ with ‘Oscars.’ In fact, there’s a great deal of overlap between the Oscars and the Razzies, and that’s because both are influenced greatly by the studios’ public relations machines. Of course, Razzie voters are going to choose people like Lady Gaga, Kim Kardashian, Ashton Kutcher, Chris Brown and others who pop up all too often on our “news” homepages when we turn on our computers and smart phones. Given the over-saturation of some celebs who readily appear in easy-to-find movies at your local Redbox or on Netflix, who do you think they will vote for? Same as with the Oscars, do you think the nation’s top streaming service, top DVD rental distribution company, and top theater chains provide enough choices to the widest available audiences for most viewers to make the most informed choices? And if Mr. Collin believes the Oscar voters actually watch all the films they vote for, I’ve got the Willis Tower here in Chicago to sell him.

The biggest things the Razzies provide for me are reasons for a party (perhaps next year, not this time though) and, much more importantly, a chance to really discuss what Hollywood does very wrong and sometimes right in a yearly podcast I’ve been organizing with Dominick Mayer for the last threeyears. It’s vitally important to know WHY Jack and Jill, That’s My Boy and Grown Ups 2 are bad movies. Anyone can easily say it’s because of bad jokes, sexism, transphobia, racism or any number of details, but has anyone even close to Hollywood dare to openly say that the movies are essentially scams? I have during HeaveMedia’s Razzies podcasts and so have the Half in the Bag guys in what is, hands down, the best damn insightful review of Jack and Jill ever.

No one is going to call for throwing The Oscars into the trash bin, myself included. I wish for the Academy Awards to be better, and I do for The Razzies.

They’ve got your $13 bucks when you watched “Grown Ups 2”

Robbie Collin may complain that Razzie voters don’t need to watch the movies they vote for, but at least anyone can become a Razzie member by subscription, meaning that you and I could join and help influence who eventually gets those awards. To vote for Oscars, you have to be chosen which, you would think, should give Academy members pause to take their balloting much more seriously than they do. Pity those who still believe most Academy voters take they duties with great reverence. Perhaps in the first live telecast of The Razzies, Seth MacFarlane can do a song and dance number called “We Saw Your Booby Prize.”

Legendary Lew, Dominick Mayer and Tyler Pistorius will be giving their takes on this year’s Razzies on Pod People, Heave Media’s podcast due out tomorrow.

So Redbox sent me a neat little email announcing they have the “Award Nominees” with a graphic that looks like this:

Fair enough, but what about those other award nominees, The Razzies? Well, yes they certainly have those:

Machete Kills
Escape Plan
After Earth
Grown Ups 2
The Lone Ranger (Oscars and Razzie-nominated? Huh?)
Getaway
Jobs
The Smurfs 2
Battle of the Year
The Big Wedding
The Call
A Haunted House
Bullet to the Head
The Hangover 3
The Canyons
Tyler Perry’s Temptation

Legendary Lew, Tyler Pistorius and Dominick Mayer will be recording the 3rd Annual Razzies Podcast for Heave Media this weekend for air on a later date. You’ve got a chance to catch up on a lot of turds before then!

There are 4 people out there with $3900 who could help us right now to make world headlines for Chicago. I’m not kidding.

The Ralph Kipniss marionettes are believed to be the world’s largest collection of marionettes privately-made by a single artist.

As you know by now, The Underground Multiplex has been running a

Ralph Kipniss with Wizard of Oz marionettes in the 1960s

Kickstarter campaign to the save the life work of master marionette puppeteer Ralph Kipniss. As of this writing, we are just short of $16,000 of our goal, which is due at 9:49AM Central Standard Time November 13.

This story has national attention. It also has the very strong possibility of going viral, so please share this on Twitter (we are @TheUGMultiplex), on Facebook and click the up arrow on this post at Reddit (it’s a quick register).

If our campaign is successful, Chicago will gain world attention for saving the largest collection of privately made marionettes known in the country and perhaps the world.

As of this writing, FOUR PERSONS WITH $3900 EACH COULD PUT US OVER THE TOP RIGHT NOW AND JOIN 278 OTHER HEROES IN MAKING ART HISTORY.

Once again, the award-winning Night School makes its way to the screen here in Chicago starting October 4 at Facets Multimedia. There’s a great variety of spine-tingling goodness with films from around the world ready to scare the hell out of you. Each film will be presented with a lecture prior to screening and a Q&A after most of the presentations.

This will be our final gig at Facets Multimedia so come on down for some spooky thrills! Night School will be traveling on to new venues TBD.

You Are Who You Eat!: Fruit Chan’s Delicious, Disturbing DumplingsOctober 4, 2013
Presented by Michael Smith

Fruit Chan (MADE IN HONG KONG, DURIAN DURIAN) became internationally famous for a series of gritty, naturalistic dramas tackling important social issues in the turbulent Hong Kong of the 1990s. With 2004′s DUMPLINGS he drastically shifted registers, crafting an elegant and beautifully photographed horror film (the exquisite color cinematography is courtesy of the great Christopher Doyle) that successfully translates his trademark social criticism to the confines of the more genre-oriented filmmaking for which Hong Kong is best known. The result expertly balances visceral shocks with intellectual provocation, and deservedly became one of the most acclaimed Hong Kong films of the post-”handover” era, winning numerous accolades along the way (including a Film of Merit Award from the Hong Kong Film Critics Society and many Best Supporting Actress trophies for Bai Ling). Come on out to see this director-preferred expanded version of DUMPLINGS and find out what all the fuss is about — though you may want to hold off on eating before you come!

Michael Smith is an independent filmmaker whose most recent short films, At Last, Okemah!! (2009) and The Catastrophe (2011), have won multiple awards at film festivals across the United States. Since 2009, he has taught film history and aesthetics at Chicago-area colleges including Oakton Community College, the College of Lake County, and Harold Washington College. His first book, Flickering Empire: How Chicago Invented the U.S. Film Industry, a non-fiction account of early film production in Chicago, will be released by KWS Publishers, Inc. in late 2013. He is also the creator and sole author of the film studies blog WhiteCityCinema.com. He has previously taught many Facets Night School sessions including “Drilling Into The Slumber Party Massacre” and “Eat the Rich: Manoel de Oliveira’s Unlikely Cannibals Musical.”

One Roll of Flesh, No More No Less: The Mad World of Suicide Club October 5, 2013
Presented by Dominick Suzanne-Mayer

Lecture description: Writer-director Shion Sono’s 2002 film Suicide Club came out during a time when worldwide interest in J-horror was at an all-time high, and stands as both one of that subgenre’s crowning achievements and one of its strangest films. Suicide Club begins with an unforgettable mass suicide committed by teenagers in a Tokyo subway tunnel, and descends into a complex web of madness involving butterfly tattoos, a roll of human skin, a teen-friendly pop group and a man named Genesis who does atrocious things to animals in empty bowling alleys. Night School lecturer Dominick Suzanne-Mayer will attempt to unravel the mysteries of Sono’s film, and further discuss its connections to one of latter-day Japanese cinema’s most prevalent questions: what to do with all the youth?

Dominick Suzanne-Mayer is a regular at Facets Night School, having presented on The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974), The Frighteners, Beyond the Valley of the Dolls and many more. He recently received his graduate degree in Media & Cinema Studies from DePaul University, and is the features editor at HEAVEmedia, a Chicago-based pop culture website. You can regularly find him in various drinking establishments that show professional wrestling for free.

Guru, The Mad Monk in 35MM!
October 11, 2013

Presented by Jason Coffman and The Chicago Cinema Society

Andy Milligan was the quintessential grindhouse filmmaker, shooting movies for next to nothing and, legend has it, occasionally editing with his teeth and some scotch tape! Milligan was a control freak on a level that made Stanley Kubrick look positively relaxed: he built sets, sewed costumes, wrote, directed, edited, and basically did everything a person can do on a film set. There’s no mistaking an Andy Milligan film for the work of any other director. His period pieces are particularly interesting, one of the best being “Guru, the Mad Monk,” in which Milligan regular Neil Flanagan plays the titular insane “holy man” who uses his position to cover up his evil deeds.

The Chicago Cinema Society and Facets Night School present a rare 35mm screening of Andy Milligan’s “Guru, The Mad Monk” as part of this year’s Fright School!This screening takes place Friday night, October 11th at Midnight at Facets Multi-Media! Presented by CCS programmer Jason Coffman with a brief talk about Andy Milligan before the show and Q&A after.

F for Femdetta! Midnight Movie Birthday Screening of 36 Pasos

U.S. Premiere!
October 12, 2013
Presented by Demetra Materis

Six women, three rules, one reason to watch 36 Pasos- pure originality. It’s just so hard to be pretty and popular these days. It’s so hard, you’ll have to fight to survive! The fourth feature from indie director Adrian Garcia Bogliano of Argentina, this energetic, sexy and sadistic movie will stick with you forever. This presentation will include a pre-recorded Q&A from presenter Demetra Materis and director Adrian Garcia Bogliano.Best part is… it’s Demetra’s birthday! You are all invited to celebrate and watch a kick ass movie with her.

Demetra Materis is a huge horror movie fan. When she’s not behind the counter at Facets Videotheque, she’s on set working with veteran horror film director Ricardo Islas on projects- currently Bachelor’s Grove: The Movie and previously Frankenstein: Day of the Beast. She’s also currently the unit production manager for a documentary series about a legendary Chicago marionette puppeteer. This is her first Night School session and it coincides with her birthday so make sure you leave room for cake! (Gifts accepted.)

Curse of the Demon

October 18, 2013

Presented by Phil Morehart

Jacques Tourneur directs a spooky supernatural thriller based on the M. R. James story “Casting the Runes.” Dana Andrews plays an American skeptic with a lot of blah, blah, blah about occultist nonsense in English until a sorcerer whips up some first-rate evil. After shitting his pants, the skeptic then must find a way to counter that goofy bastard.

Phil Morehart was a programmer for the Cincinnati Film Society. He also wrote on film, theater, music and visual arts for Chicago Journal Newspaper and Cincinnati CityBeat Newspaper, and is a contributor to the book, The Armchair Reader Guide Goes Hollywood. He’s currently an editor at ALA and a marathon runner. Previous Night School classes taught include There’s No More Room in Hell, So Let’s Go Shopping: A Look at George A. Romero’s Dawn of the Dead.

I’ve Been a Bad, Bad Girl: Sleepaway Camp and the Punishing Nature of Horror

In the summer of 1975, Camp Arawak is a great place for summer vacation – unless you aren’t nice. Shy Angela is sent to Arawak with her cousin after her immediate family’s demise in a boating accident. Before long, campers and staff with less than pure motives start turning up dead, in increasingly bizarre and violent ways. What twisted individual is behind the body count? What exactly is Angela hiding? And really, is it that big a deal to lose such terrible people?

Weird, offensive and brilliant, Sleepaway Camp has attracted a cult following since its 1985 release. But why are so many horror movies intent on punishment – other than the utter coolness of fake blood? Dig up your awesome short shorts and join Lauren Whalen as she explores why in the horror genre, cruel intentions can get you the boot (or knife).

Lauren Whalen is a freelance writer for Chicago Theater Beat and The Film Yap. Previous Night School presentations include Brick, Mulholland Dr., Donnie Darko and Drop Dead Gorgeous. Lauren’s had an 11-year relationship with Facets as an intern, subtitle reader, full-time employee and volunteer. There are many who would call her a bad, bad girl.

Full Metal Frankenstein!October 25, 2013
Presented by Bruce Neal

The 1931 James Whale/ Boris Karloff/ Dwight Frye classic, Frankenstein, presented with a live score by Dysfunctio Cerebri, a new ensemble featuring members of On You, Czar, Get Up with the Get Downs and The Crippled Masters. Guitars will crack like plasma filaments emanating from a Tesla coil! The villagers will march! Bring your lighters! With secret surprise second short feature! It’s Alive!!

Bruce Neal is a projectionist at Facets and has worked in film, music, underground theater, performance art and stand-up comedy. He was creative and story consultant on Dream Havana, which won Best Documentary at the Chicago, Orlando and Lyon Latino Film Festivals. His previous Night School classes covered such films as Street Trash and God Told Me To. Bruce also co-created original soundtracks to A Page of Madness, Haxan: Witchcraft Through the Ages, The Fall of the House of Usher, Alucarda and the shorts of Bettie Page as a member of The Cursed Bird Ensemble (among many other aliases). Currently, he’s performing in the Death-Folk band The Crippled Masters with fellow soundtrack alum Matt Silcock.

We are the Strange: Video Games vs. MoviesOctober 26, 2013
Presented by Joseph R. Lewis

No film better illustrates the maniacal effects that video games have had on the psyche of American moviemaking than this one. An animated film like no other, We Are the Strange incorporates stop-motion, CG, and video game board layout designs to create a dark fantasy world unlike anything you’ve ever seen. Joseph R. Lewis, co-founder of The Underground Multiplex, presents this Chicago premiere.

Joseph R. Lewis is the co-founder of The Underground Multiplex, a Chicago-based arts collective producing live theatrical events, Internet films and podcasts. Lewis has completed several features, including the award-winning Scumbabies, Tyler B Nice, and Sci-Fi SOL.He’s also the creator of the Emmy-nominated TV show Elephant and Worm TV. Previous Facets Night School presentations include Killer Klowns from Outer Space and the debut of Sisters of No Mercy 3D.

FREE MEDIA!

TUGM is a community-arts organization dedicated to locally-produced transmedia.
What is transmedia? We like to think of it as:
VIDZ PIX TXT TRAX.
We advocate for independent artists and content creators. We produce live events to strengthen the local arts community. We also organize our own original transmedia productions.
Based in Chicago.
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